Government may permit spectrum sharing in New Telecom Policy 2011

29 Jun 2011 Evaluate

The government is likely to give permission for the sharing of spectrum by two or more service providers in the New Telecom Policy 2011, this decision will help to improve the quality of services accrued because of huge spectrum shortage. The official involved in framing the New Telecom Policy 2011, said, the government is likely to allow sharing of radio-waves by two or more service providers. However, ruled out trading in the 2G spectrum as it was never auctioned.

As per the internal department of telecom communication, 'Even, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) had recommended spectrum sharing. Spectrum trading was not recommended due to the fact that 2G spectrum price was not determined by the market as it was bundled with the license and further allocation was made based on the subscriber base.'

The radio-waves sharing will help to improve the quality and reduce the shortage in the telecom sector as it will enable mobile service providers to lease their surplus spectrums to other mobile service providers on commercial terms. Many service providers were not able to acquire sufficient subscribers so as to utilize the spectrum allotted to them, especially by the new operators.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has announced that the government will bring the New Telecom Policy by the end of this year to address various problems faced by the telecom sector. As per the note, the stakeholders have proposed adequate funding mechanism for the service providers, sharing of active infrastructure for better efficiency and easier mergers and acquisitions. On the issues of spectrum, the stakeholders are of the opinion that the spectrum should be allotted on the bases of technology neutrality, service flexibility, timely allocation and reconciliation and enhance transparency. 

Last year in May, the TRAI released the recommendation, under the 'Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework', to review the spectrum requirement of the operators as per the circle and to decide the pricing and allocation of 2G spectrums for optimizing the spectral efficiency of the telecom industry.

Considering the large number of service providers in each service area, and the position relating to the availability of spectrum, TRAI had given recommendations on mergers and acquisitions, sharing of radio-waves and trading. The TRAI has suggested that the radio waves sharing should be allowed between the two mobile operators given that each of them does not have more than 4.4 MHz/2.5 MHz of spectrums (GSM/CDMA). Leasing of spectrum should not be permitted, it had added. TRAI has also recommended against the radio waves trading in the Indian market as the 2G spectrum has been either given along with license or given based on the Subscriber Linked Criteria, without any additional charges of the spectrum.

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